Iowa campuses could see smart phone app to prevent sexual assault

WASHINGTON – In the struggle to prevent sexual assault and dating violence on Iowa college campuses, there could soon be an app for that.

The Apps Against Abuse Challenge is looking for a smart phone application design targeted at college and universities that will allow students to prevent dating violence and sexual assault.

Launched by the Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the app would encourage young men and women to “take an active role in the prevention of dating violence and sexual assault,” according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Iowa State University has taken a number of measures in recent years to prevent sexual assaults on campus, including interactive theater performances and encouraging students to be more conscious of their surroundings.

Steffani Simbric, the Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator for Story County and an employee of the Iowa State police division, said a smart phone app could help enhance existing programs.

The first step in getting students to take an active role? Talk to the students when designing the app.

“I think what we need to see in the application is something the students are going to be interested in using and I think that input would have to be gathered from the students to understand what that might look like,” Simbric said.

There were 10 reported sexual assaults at Iowa State in both 2008 and 2009. At a school with roughly 23,000 undergraduates, that number seems low.

The National Institute of Justice study from 2007 found that 19 percent of female college students are sexually assaulted before they graduate. Survey results released by the Department of Justice in the same year indicated that number is closer to 26 percent. The problem for most schools is getting students to report assaults.

“I do think it is still an issue that college campuses everywhere experience,” Simbric said.

One feature of the app would help victims find services and report assaults. In Iowa, sexual assault examinations are free and do not appear on insurance, Simbric explained, so students can seek help without their parents seeing a bill from their insurance company.

KellyMarie Ziemann, prevention and education coordinator for Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the time has come for a new approach to sexual assault prevention.

“It’s very important to us and in general that we take more advantage of technology and social media in doing prevention. It’s something we haven’t done much in the past,” Ziemann said.

Women on college campuses are warned not to walk alone at night, to carry their keys in their hands, to watch their drinks at parties. Despite all the precautions, Ziemann said sexual assault rates are “certainly not lower based on all the intervention we’re doing.”

“Our rates of sexual assault are, if not the same, higher,” she said. “What we need to do is take this seriously, not just as a problem as the people who might be assaulted, but as a problem for the entire community.”

Ziemann said Iowa CASA would like the Apps Against Abuse entries to focus on helping bystanders get involved, through tools like anonymous reporting and giving suggestions for how to get a potential victim away from an assault before it happens.

While Simbric suggested app developers could work with students, Ziemann said the designers should also turn to sexual assault support groups like Iowa CASA.

“It’s great for us to have some partnerships between us and those tech-y folks to sort some of this out,” she said. “If there is anyone in Iowa, we encourage them to give us a call so we can be a sounding board.”

Apps Against Abuse will accept applications until Oct. 17, and a winner will be announced on Oct. 31. The winning app will allow real-time check-in by users, utilize discretion and connect with domestic violence and sexual assault resources.